Cortana finally coming to Xbox One Preview Members

This week, Xbox One Preview Members who beta test all console updates before their public rollout, will be able to check out the Cortana application among other nifty features, arriving on the console in a few weeks.

The biggest feature addition is definitely Cortana, which was advertised last year but delayed until this summer. That time is finally now, and you should be able to see her in action in the video below. Cortana will first be available in the U.S., U.K., France, Italy, Germany and Spain, and gamers can expect the familiar Cortana experience found on other Windows 10 devices. Cortana voice commands on Xbox One will work with both headsets and Kinect. You’ll be able to use Cortana to find great new games, see what your friends are up to, start a party, accomplish common tasks, turn on your Xbox One if you’re using Kinect, and more.

As well as Cortana, a host of other features will also be available for Preview Members this week, which include:

New Game Collection: We’re updating the Game Collection interface to make it faster and easier to find and launch the games you’re looking for. Now you’ll be able to see more of your Game Collection, quickly access your own ‘Ready to Install’ tab, and get more information about titles in your queue.

Facebook Friend Finder on Xbox One: Facebook Friend Finder is expanding from the Xbox app to Xbox One and is a great way to find and add your Facebook friends on Xbox. As more gamers link their Facebook and Xbox Live accounts, you’ll start seeing more suggestions for Facebook friends to add and game with on Xbox Live.

Improved sharing on Xbox One: We’ve made it easier to share your screenshots, GameDVR clips, and achievements on Xbox One. Gamers can now share their most epic clips and captures with the community in fewer steps.

The Xbox One and Windows 10 app will also be updated the following week, adding a few new features there as well, including:

Edit and share GameDVR clips on any video editor: Create that perfect gaming montage with your favorite video editor with clips you recorded on either Xbox One or your PC. Once you’re finished editing, you’ll be able to upload the clip back to Xbox Live through the Xbox app.

Updated GameDVR management: You can now manage your captures straight from your profile. This new destination allows you to share, start your own uploads, and see progress in the queue.

60 fps game clip recording with the Game bar: Using the new “Very High” video quality setting in the Xbox app, you will be able to record your game clips in up to 60 frames per second (in addition to 30 frames per second) easily, all from the Game bar (Windows + G).

Share to Twitter from Xbox app: In the Xbox app, you’ll be able to share game clips and screenshots from Xbox Live to Twitter through the sharing options on each capture.

Windows Game bar improved full-screen support: One of the most common requests we see for the Windows 10 GameDVR feature is the ability to use the Windows Game bar with more games running in full-screen. We’ve added support for six additional games in full-screen mode with Windows game bar: League of Legends, World of Warcraft, DOTA 2, Battlefield 4, Counterstrike: Global Offensive, and Diablo III. With those games, you can now use Windows + G to bring up the Windows Game bar when the game is running full-screen.

There are a few other updates listed on Major Nelson’s blog which you can read in full, but for the most part, these are the most notable additions. I certainly look forward to putting Cortana through her paces and hopefully making my Xbox One experience that little more efficient and accessible.